Elk River: Car hit by two Northstar trains after driving around crossing arm

A car that drove around a lowered crossing arm on the Northstar train line, then became stuck while attempting to do a U-turn on the tracks, was struck by two of the commuter trains late Tuesday afternoon in Elk River, police said.

The car's occupants were able to escape before the crash, and no one was injured.

Police were called about 5:15 p.m. to the collision site, where the Northstar line crosses Jackson Avenue in downtown Elk River, about two miles north of the city's train station.

Elk River Police Chief Brad Rolfe said that according to witnesses, vehicles were stopped on both sides of the tracks, the crossing arms were down and warning signals functioning when a southbound car drove around one of the stop arms.

The driver apparently had second thoughts and attempted to turn around on the tracks, but got stuck, Rolfe said. A southbound Northstar train struck the car after its occupants -- two men and a woman -- escaped.

Within minutes, a second, northbound Northstar strain also hit the car, Rolfe said. No one aboard either train was injured.

Rolfe said late Tuesday that any charges or citations pertaining to the incident were still under investigation.

Metro Transit said buses were shuttling stranded northbound and southbound riders to their destinations.

The commuter line operates between downtown Minneapolis and Big Lake, near St. Cloud. The Elk River stop is the second-to-last stop on the line.

Advertisement

The Minnesota State Patrol and Sherburne County sheriff's office were assisting in the investigation.

The incident came a day after a Northstar train struck a car with a baby inside in Elk River.

The train was northbound when it struck the car at a crossing around 7 a.m. Monday. No one was injured.

Metro Transit said the car slid onto the tracks after colliding with another vehicle at U.S. 10 and Proctor Avenue, just west of the scene of Tuesday's collision. The driver couldn't move the car and left the vehicle.

She was not immediately able to rescue the boy, who was in a car seat. But after the train struck the car, the mother immediately retrieved the child and went to a nearby business for help.

The mother and child were taken to a medical facility for evaluation and released.